Monkeypox Cases Continue To Rise, United States Expands Testing Capacity

Illustration of monkey pox. (Wikimedia Commons/CDC)

JAKARTA - The administration of President Joe Biden announced the expansion of monkeypox testing capacity to five laboratory companies, amid rising infection cases in the United States.

As of Tuesday, there have been 142 cases of monkeypox reported in the United States in 24 states and Washington, D.C. The first case in Uncle Sam's Country was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 17.

"All Americans should be concerned about cases of monkeypox. Thank goodness we now have the tools to combat and treat cases in America," said Health and Public Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

"By dramatically expanding the number of test sites across the country, we are enabling anyone who needs to be tested to do so."

The CDC has started sending monkeypox tests to five companies: Aegis Science, Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and Sonic Healthcare, the Ministry of Health and Public Services (HHS) said.

HHS said healthcare providers would be able to use the lab in early July.

Commercial laboratories "will dramatically expand testing capacity nationwide and make testing more convenient and accessible to patients and healthcare providers," HHS said.

More than 40 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with confirmed cases exceeding 3,000. The World Health Organization (WHO) will decide today whether to declare monkeypox a global health emergency.

Monkeypox, which is spread by close contact and was first discovered in monkeys, occurs mostly in west and central Africa and only occasionally spreads elsewhere.